Initial design of a graphical user interface for the Aegis display system

Abstract

Today's United States Navy continues to seek improvements in ship warfighting capabilities. Due to decreases in defense funding and the resulting reduced force levels, it follows that individual ships must possess improved multi-warfare capabilities if the Navy is to remain an effective fighting force through the next several decades. Some of the most versatile ships (meaning mutli-mission) are the Aegis cruisers and destroyers. However, with decreasing budgets, upgrades to current Aegis baselines must be heavily weighed against cost, resources, and perceived benefits. The current Aegis Weapon System is continuing to increase in complexity, and under today's constraints of reduced funding and manpower resources, changes to any part of the weapon system must be viewed from a systems engineering and life cycle support point of view. This project will focus on two design concepts for the display element of the: Aegis Weapon System, the Baseline 1.4 Aegis Display System and the Command Support at Sea Experiment. The study evaluates the current human-computer interfaces for these two systems. The investigation focuses on how well each design supports the operator. The project concludes, that within the scope of the investigation, specific practices from each of the systems should be utilized for the new human-computer interface design, and recommends areas for further study.